DNV GL Building Service Targets Fuel Efficiency
DNV GL launched a new service named Build2Design to help shipyards and shipowners improve the fuel economy of their ships by reducing variations in their building process. Significant improvements have been achieved in the design of more fuel-efficient ships in recent years. The performance of these Eco-Ship designs has been documented by both Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and tank testing and some designs have also proven their performance in operation. However, questions…
APL Saves $30M/Year through Hull Optimization
In connection with an order of a series of 10 new 13,800 TEU container vessels from the world’s largest shipbuilding company Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the global container transportation company APL requested DNV Maritime Advisory to cooperate with the shipyard to ensure superior hull efficiency of the vessels. Ships used to be optimized for the design point (i.e. to give the best performance at the design draft and speed); however, the ship seldom sails in that condition.
Enhancing Lifeboat Saftey
DNV is taking lifeboat safety one step further. The company claims that maritime lifeboat safety will be enhanced by transferring offshore lifeboat design practices to ships. The shortcomings of existing free fall lifeboat designs were revealed in a number of incidents related to structural safety, human loads and headway back in 2005. A joint industry project was initiated by OLF (the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association) to find the reasons for these incidents. The project revealed that the SOLAS requirements, on which the design criteria were built, were based on lifeboat performance during test launches into calm waters and from heights significantly smaller than those encountered on host facilities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
